Message From The Chapter President

Good afternoon NAMD members,

Spring is here and with this new season comes new opportunities for our NAMD Greater New York Chapter and our members. Spring also means it’s time to get ready to attend the annual NAMD Conference. This year’s conference dates are April 30—May 2nd and we have some exciting and innovative discussions in store for all attendees, including a forum on how the stimulus package will provide new opportunities to small businesses, how to data can help you to sell bold marketing strategies, “green” jobs and brand new marketing idea in digital media.

In addition, while at the conference, you will have the opportunity to vote in the next round of national board members. It is truly an exciting time and prime opportunity to meet members and executives from other NAMD chapters. If you have not made arrangements to ease on down the road to Silver Springs, MD, please visit the national site at http://www.namdntl.org for more information.

On the home front, Towne Taverne will host our next members’ meeting on Tuesday, April 7, 2009 from 7:00-8:00 pm. In addition to your board members, NAMD’s National Executive Director, Clyde Allen, is scheduled to attend. Mr. Allen is a long-standing member of the organization and this is a rare opportunity for attendees to have one-on-one discussions with him about NAMD. Complimentary refreshments will be served at the meeting.

The meeting will be immediately followed by an NAMD hosted Business Card Exchange from 8:00—10:00pm. The following organizations will be joining us at this event: New York Association of Black Journalists (NYABJ), Black Public Relations Society of NY (BPRSNY), National Association of Black Sports Professionals (NABSP) New York Chapter, National Association of African Americans in HR (NAAAHR) New York Chapter.

This will be a unique opportunity for you to do any or all of the following within one evening:

• Meet, mix and mingle with sports industry executives who may be looking for new marketing strategies;
• Receive information about possible employment opportunities and how to keep yourself afloat in this current economy;
• Meet independent publicists with whom you may be able to barter marketing services
• Find writing opportunities or meet people who may be interested in writing about your company and/or projects.

All in all, throughout the evening you will be able to get to know people from different, albeit related, industries, and figure out ways that we can all work together to achieve our goals.

The fee for the Business Card Exchange is $5 for members and $10 for non-members. Anyone attending the members’ meeting at 7:00pm will be admitted free for the entire evening. Towne Taverne will have all-night drink specials for NAMD. Wines and mixed drinks are $4 and beer/soft drinks are $3.

We have been enjoying huge successes with our monthly Marketing Mondays. Our April gathering is shaping up to be just as insightful and informative. We are planning a three-day career focused series of symposiums, scheduled to take place on April 13, 15 and 18. These symposiums will explore relevant topics such as how your online presence can affect your job search, resume building and sharpening your interviewing skills and will include an HR round table and an interactive workshop. Watch your emails and www.namd-nyc.org for more details in the weeks to come.

And finally the NAMD New York Chapter has forged a partnership with The Takeaway, a morning show produced by Public Radio International (PRI), WNYC Radio, The BBC World Service, New York Times and WGBH Radio Boston. The Takeaway is a national morning drive news program and website produced by WNYC New York and Public Radio International (PRI) to advance and activate the American conversation. This partnership will garner a greater presence for our chapter and it's members and we look forward to premium networking opportunities.

For those of you that have not already done so, please submit your pictures and bios to Christopher Mack at cmack@mackdigital.com so that you can be featured in the New Member Spotlight section of the website.

As always the board of directors thanks you for your continued support and looks forward to seeing you at the members’ meeting. Feel free to contact us at anytime via our website.

Dates to remember:
April 7 - Member's meeting and business card exchange, RSVP TODAY!!!
April 13, 15 & 18 - Marketing Monday , Career focused symposiums TBD
April 30 to May 3nd - NAMD 57th Annual National Marketing Conference, visit: http://www.namdntl.org/2009_conference.html

Together we will create a win-win!

Until next time,
Raychelle LeBlanc
President, NAMD New York Chapter